Katherine Legge's record-setting career across IndyCar, NASCAR and sportscars

Katherine Legge is a British driver who has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula E, DTM and IMSA, and who once tested a Formula One car for Minardi. In 2005 she won a major open-wheel race in North America, and in 2026 she became the first woman to try Double Duty, racing the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

How did Legge start out in single-seaters?

Legge came up through several British open-wheel categories, among them Formula Three, Formula Renault and Formula Ford, before reaching the Toyota Atlantic series. In 2000 she became the first woman to claim a pole in a Zetec race. A year later she broke Kimi Raikkonen's lap record on the way to another pole, and she was the first woman to be given the BRDC's Rising Star honour.

Her American chapter began in 2004, when money had run out and she was looking for a way forward. She went to Cosworth's British offices and refused to leave until she had seen the company's boss, Kevin Kalkhoven. His daughter was sent to deal with her, but a brief conversation changed the outcome, and Kalkhoven agreed to meet her himself. He then offered her seats in the opening three rounds of Polestar's 2005 Atlantic programme.

It was her first full-time seat, and at Long Beach she won the series opener on her Atlantic debut. That result made her the first woman to win a developmental open-wheel race on the continent. Victories at Edmonton and San Jose followed, and she ended the year third with three wins and five podiums. The series also gave her its Rising Star award for 2005.

The first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America, and the most recent woman to start a NASCAR Cup Series race.

What did Legge achieve in Formula One and A1 Grand Prix testing?

In November 2005 Legge tested for Minardi at Vallelunga, becoming the first woman to drive a Formula One car since Sarah Fisher in 2002. Her first run ended in a crash after two laps, so the session was moved to the following day. There she completed 27 laps and set a best time of 1:21.176, and in December she became the first woman to test an A1 Grand Prix car, with A1 Team Great Britain.

Later that year she was named the Most Promising Road Racer of the Year by RACER magazine.

What happened in Champ Car?

Between the 2005 and 2006 seasons Legge tested a Champ Car for Rocketsports Racing and then for PKV Racing. In February 2006 she was confirmed for a full PKV Racing programme. In June that year she led twelve laps at Milwaukee, becoming the first woman to lead a lap in the series' history.

A failed rear wing sent her car into a violent accident at the 2006 Road America event, yet she was not hurt. The next year she drove for Dale Coyne Racing, and her best finish in the series was sixth place, achieved twice.

How did Legge's touring car and sportscar racing develop?

In 2008 she joined Colin Kolles' Futurecom TME squad in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, driving an Audi. In 2009 and 2010 she switched to Abt Sportsline, which had won the title the year before she arrived. In 2009 she was the only one of the five Abt drivers running the previous year's car.

Legge joined the DeltaWing programme in the United SportsCar Championship in 2013 and raced for it again in 2014 and 2015. In 2017 she drove an Acura NSX GT3 for Michael Shank Racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. At the 2019 24 Hours of Daytona she was part of an all-female crew with Simona de Silvestro, Christina Nielsen and Ana Beatriz. They finished fifteenth in class after she brushed a wall and damaged the suspension.

Her European sportscar career was interrupted in July 2020, when a crash during pre-race testing at Paul Ricard for the European Le Mans Series left her with a broken wrist and leg. She was part of the all-female Richard Mille Racing team that season, alongside Sophia Florsch and Tatiana Calderon.

Why did Legge's IndyCar career matter?

In January 2012 Legge signed with Dragon Racing in IndyCar, alongside Sebastien Bourdais. The team's Lotus engines proved uncompetitive, so it switched to Chevrolet power, but it could only run one car per race after Indianapolis. She finished 26th in the points that year, having competed in ten of the fifteen races, with a best finish of ninth at Auto Club Speedway.

The 2013 Indianapolis 500 was run under a shared arrangement between Schmidt Peterson and Pelfrey's team. Her first laps in the car came on bump day, she started 33rd and she was classified 26th at the finish. In 2015 she announced an all-female Grace Autosport entry for 2016, but the team never acquired a chassis and did not race.

Legge returned to the Indianapolis 500 in 2023, ten years after her previous start. She qualified 30th at 231.070 mph (371.871 km/h), a new qualifying speed record for a woman, and she out-qualified her three full-time Rahal Letterman Lanigan teammates. Teammate Graham Rahal was bumped from the field in the final session. Mechanical problems and a crash in the days before the race were followed by a loss of control on lap 35, and she retired on lap 41.

In 2024 she drove for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing at Indianapolis. She was the fastest of the four drivers in the final qualifying session, while her rookie teammate Nolan Siegel was bumped. Her own race ended on lap 23 with an engine failure, and she stayed with the team for the oval races that season.

At the 2026 Indianapolis 500 she drove the number 11 Dallara DW12 for A. J. Foyt Racing. Ryan Hunter-Reay lost control directly ahead of her on lap 18, leaving her no room, and the contact ended both drivers' races. They were the first two cars out.

How did Legge's NASCAR career begin?

Legge made her NASCAR Xfinity Series debut in August 2018 at Mid-Ohio, driving the number 15 Chevrolet Camaro for JD Motorsports. She later made her oval debut at Richmond Raceway. She returned to NASCAR in 2023 for road-course races, but only ran Road America before a sponsor withdrew over the writers' strike.

Her 2025 Xfinity efforts were more eventful. In April she qualified at Rockingham but was bumped by teams with guaranteed starting spots, and then she was given the number 53 ride for Joey Gase Motorsports, replacing J. J. Yeley. She finished 36th after William Sawalich made contact with her car. At Talladega later that month she qualified 27th and became the fourth woman in the series' history to lead a race, taking the lead on lap 75, before a crash involving Aric Almirola ended her race in 34th.

When did Legge make her Cup Series debut?

In March 2025 she made her Cup Series debut at Phoenix Raceway in the number 78 Chevrolet for Live Fast Motorsports. She crashed on lap 210. She was the first female Cup starter since Danica Patrick's 2018 Daytona 500 appearance, and the oldest driver in the field was a woman for the first time in the series' history.

On 6 July 2025 she finished 19th on the Chicago Street Course, the best result by a woman in the Cup Series since Patrick eight years earlier. In 2026 she drove the number 78 at the Coca-Cola 600 after the Indianapolis 500, becoming the first woman to attempt The Double. At 45 she was also the oldest driver to do so. A lost tyre brought a penalty and she finished 31st, many laps down.

What else has Legge raced?

In 2014 she signed for Amlin Aguri in the inaugural Formula E season. She took part in the first two races, then lost the seat to Salvador Duran. Her wider record also includes ARCA, where she made her debut in the 2025 season-opener at Daytona and finished 39th after an early wreck.

In 2024 she took part in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in an Acura Integra Type S, finishing 27th overall and fifth of eleven in her Time Attack 1 division. In April 2024 Long Beach recognised her by placing her in its Motorsports Walk of Fame, the first woman so honoured. She is also a member of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission.

Career results by series